Two of the 4 No. 1 seeds, Stanford and Indiana, did not survive the primary week of the NCAA Event.
Will the 2 remaining, South Carolina and Virginia Tech, make it by the second week to succeed in the Closing 4 in Dallas?
Or will land mines forward declare no less than yet one more No. 1 by the conclusion of the regionals Monday in Greenville, S.C., and Seattle?
The Pac-12 enters the Candy 16 with out Stanford for the primary time since 2007 however with three second-round winners: Utah, the common season co-champion, plus UCLA and Colorado.
The No. 2 Utes are slight seeding favorites over No. 3 LSU however 5-point betting underdogs. Defending nationwide champion South Carolina is a determined favourite over No. 4 UCLA whereas No. 2 seed Iowa is a 5.5-point favourite over No. 6 seed Colorado.
So it could take an upset — as outlined by the oddsmakers — for the Pac-12 to advance a workforce to the Elite Eight, one thing it has completed yearly since 2016.
The Pac-12 final went and not using a Closing 4 participant in 2018, when a quartet of groups misplaced within the regionals.
The Mountain faculties are in rarified air with their deepest NCAA runs since 2003 (Colorado) and 2006 (Utah), each earlier than their entrance into the Pac-12. Now, the latest members and an outgoing college (UCLA) are carrying the torch for a convention with essentially the most Closing 4 appearances within the nation (seven) since 2016.
Listed below are Hotline predictions for the Candy 16.
Friday
No. 2 Utah (27-4) vs. No. 3 LSU (30-2)
The Utes’ slender second-round victory (63-56) over No. 10 Princeton could be construed both as a crimson flag or a win-ugly sport that proves they will survive even when their offense is awry (1-of-15 from 3-point vary). Coach Lynne Roberts described it because the “fruits of profitable these arduous video games that possibly previously we weren’t in a position to recover from the hump there.”
Towards LSU, which is averaging 83.2 factors per sport, Utah (83.5 ppg) will likely be on extra acquainted floor stylistically but in addition up towards AP All-America first-teamer Angel Reese, a 6-foot-3 sophomore ahead. All Reese did towards Michigan within the second spherical was put up 25 factors, 20 rebounds and 5 blocks, the primary participant to succeed in these numbers in an NCAA sport since 2000.
Utah has its personal star in Pac-12 Participant of the Yr Alissa Pili, who had a mixed 61 factors, 18 rebounds and 11 assists within the first two rounds.
LSU’s solely losses are to South Carolina and Tennessee, however its energy of schedule (No. 79) is significantly decrease than Utah’s (No. 29). The victor meets the winner between No. 4 seed Villanova and No. 9 Miami. This Greenville regional feels just like the Pac-12’s finest path to the Closing 4. Choose: Utah
No. 6 Colorado (25-8) vs. No. 2 Iowa (28-6)
ESPN charges Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (26.8 ppg) as the most effective remaining participant within the NCAA Event, a spot she additionally held going into the primary weekend. Clark, a 6-foot junior, exudes a confidence akin to Diana Taurasi, main the Hawkeyes to a national-best 87.4 ppg.
“Everyone is aware of Iowa,” Colorado coach JR Payne stated. “They're in all probability every thing you need in a basketball workforce.”
Colorado’s second-round street victory over No. 3 Duke confirmed a maturity from veterans Jaylyn Sherrod, Quay Miller and Aaronette Vonleh that, at minimal, ought to make the Buffaloes aggressive towards Iowa. Frida Formann’s 3-point capturing is a significant variable for Colorado.
Colorado permits simply 58.7 ppg and should wrangle the Hawkeyes into the 60s to have a practical shot.
“We do hold our hat defensively,” Payne stated. “We take plenty of satisfaction in being stingy, making touches tough, issues like that.”
The winner in Seattle faces the winner between No. 5 Louisville and No. 8 Mississippi, which upset Stanford. Choose: Iowa
Saturday
No. 4 UCLA (27-9) vs. No. 1 South Carolina (34-0)
There’s a direct comparability for these groups, which performed on Nov. 29 with South Carolina profitable at house 73-64.
“They’re higher, we’re higher,” UCLA coach Cori Shut stated. “They're an incredible workforce, undefeated for a cause. However we’re actually gifted, too, and rising in our confidence. I didn’t know if we might meet them once more, however I positively needed to study some essential classes from that so we might be prepared if we obtained the chance.”
South Carolina’s 6-foot-5 senior ahead Aliyah Boston wasn’t known as upon for large numbers in South Carolina’s first two event wins however could be towards UCLA. Bruins senior guard Charisma Osborne was sensational within the second spherical towards Oklahoma with a career-high 36 factors, eight rebounds and 4 assists.
South Carolina is on a 40-game profitable streak courting again to the beginning of the 2022 NCAA Event and vying to grow to be the primary repeat nationwide champion since Connecticut’s four-year run from 2013-16.
The Gamecocks additionally received all of it in 2017 beneath coach Daybreak Staley and misplaced to eventual champion Stanford within the 2021 semifinal.
The winner attracts the winner between No. 2 Maryland and No. 3 Notre Dame in Greenville. Choose: South Carolina
VanDerveer not bought on two regional websites
The choice to have solely two regional websites, with eight groups at every, was made in 2019 by the Division I ladies’s basketball committee and is simply now taking impact.
Whether or not it’s a good suggestion or not is to be seen.
“They made that call earlier than we had began drawing the crowds we have now,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer stated in February. “I believe the regionals actually might stand on their very own. I don’t assume you need to have eight groups in Seattle. That would really harm our crowds. You’re getting all these video games with the identical variety of folks.
“We now have sufficient hotbeds of ladies’s basketball. The crowds have been implausible this yr. I believe we’ll develop out of the eight-team regional and return to the four-team regional very quickly.”
Pac-12 affiliate commissioner Rhonda Lundin Bennett was on the ladies’s basketball committee main as much as the eight-team regional choice.
“It’s arduous to determine if it’s a good suggestion or not till you undergo it,” Bennett stated. “I do know being on the committee when these discussions have been occurring, having the ability to centralize for followers and have that many high quality groups at these regionals will likely be a very particular atmosphere.
“We’ve heard from followers that they get pleasure from coming when there are plenty of video games being performed. There’s been plenty of ladies’s basketball media and ladies’s basketball group advocating for some consolidation, in order that was the impetus of the choice to maneuver to 2 regional websites.”
The 2-regional format is ready by no less than 2026. Upcoming websites are Albany, New York and Portland, Oregon in 2024; Birmingham, Alabama and Spokane, Washington, in 2025; and Fort Price, Texas, and Sacramento in 2026.
Upcoming Closing Fours embody Phoenix in 2026 and Portland in 2030.
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